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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2 |
Since "gris" is French for "grey", why doesn't verdigris simply mean "grey green" or "greenish grey"? The Greek connection seems obscure and might even have been a 14th century joke.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
Etymology (from OED online): < Anglo-Norman and Old French vert de Grece (c1170), Old French verte grez (13th cent.), vert de grice (1314), vert-de-gris (15th cent.; also modern French), lit. ‘green of Greece’: see vert n.1 Compare medieval Latin viride grecum (14–15th cent.). The terminal syllable at an early date was no longer understood and hence underwent various corruptions of spelling and pronunciation.
NB: note earlier dates
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